Week 103: The last letter- "Im coming home, Im coming home, tell the world Im coming home. (Sean "Diddy" Combs)

Buenos Tardes a Todos!

This week was a good week! We worked hard and found a couple of people that have given us hope and faith!

This week we had almost all of our appointments fall through which made us spend almost all of our time contacting and looking for new people. Sometimes it was hard to get  myself to do it because I was tired but I managed to persevere. 

We gave out a good number of Books of Mormon and found lots of people that could be interested. The best moment was a new investigator that we found. He was out in the street with his friend and we started talking to him (Because he had contacted him a couple days before) and we started talking about life and Chile and fleites and we were really friendly and funny with them. Then they started asking us what we do and why we do the mission. We testified strongly about the gospel and taught a little bit of each lesson. As missionaries they always teach us that we should testify about the restoration, but here in Chile the vision of baptism and repentance is so skewed that I love to testify and teach about baptism and repentance before anything else. It was a great lesson and they talked about how they want to believe but want to know if it is true. We talked about prayer and the Book of Mormon and how they can know from God if it is the path. And they said that they would be willing to do Everything if they came to know that it was true (Including baptism). It was a great lesson and made me feel super good.

Besides that I will be working this week and next week I am home! AAAAHHH it has passed by so fast! But it has be the best, hardest, saddest, happiest, most uplifting and fulfilling 2 years of my life. They really are the Best 2 years :)!!!!!

Next Monday I will be visiting my converts and eating with president and the other missionaries so  I wont be sending a letter. So the next time that we talk will be Wednesday in the airport! How crazy is that!

I love you all! Stay Golden!

Until Wednesday!

Love,

Elder Nielson :)

Week 102: I believe in Miracles!!

Buenos Dias a Todos!!

This week was a good week of some miracle moments and also a long week of lots of walking ha ha. I am super super super tired physically, mentally, and emotionally, but I gotta work in the time which is called "Day" (D&C).

Basically the best part of the week was a day of Interchanges when I was in another sector with one of the elders of my zone.

I was with Elder "R" the Brazilian who was with me in the trio to start the change. We were in his sector and it was a day of Miracles. To start it all the night before I started preparing myself for the interchange with prayers and studies to prepare us to have a day of miracles. I made sure to have true intent and offered my whole self and energy and everything as an offering to have miracles happen. When the interchange came we made sure to work as hard as we could and we saw the results of our prayer.

We contacted EVERY PERSON that we could reach. In the whole day I think we contacted 25 or 26 people. We taught 3 investigators in 1 day, found 2 new investigators, and invited 2 people to be baptized in the lesson.

We contacted a 17 year old named Ian. The whole day I was making it my goal to contact people in different ways. As he was walking up I saw his shoes and thought they were cool so I decided to start the contact with that.

"Hey cool shoes man!" It sounded like one of the cheesiest contact starts ever. But we kept talking and started talking about God. He told us that he had heard  about God but hadn't really seen his existence in his life and was indifferent because of that. We both testified about our experiences coming to know if God existed and the spirit was really strong. He was super interested, accepted a book, and almost begged us to come to his house. It was really a miracle to be able to contact someone like that. The whole day we were laughing that our best contact of the day started with "Hey cool shoes man!"

In the interchange I really wanted to be a great example because Elder "R" is relatively new and has a ton of potential to be a great leader and great missionary. So I wanted to have every person that we contacted at least talk to us a little bit. As we tried to contact 2 teenagers that were walking by they were talking and hard core ignoring us. I was kinda desperate trying to get them to talk to us and was getting kind of frustrated. That's when I saw that one of them had a pack of cookies and that they were both kind of fliete. So loosing my tone of respect I pulled our my fliete and said "Hey kid, can I have a cookie" (It doesn't sound as fliete in English). They were both so shocked that they stopped walking, opened the pack of cookies and gave me one. I couldn't believe that it worked to get his attention and that he actually gave me a cookie! I tried to share the gospel with them but they still didn't want anything. But at least they stopped and gave me a cookie!

All in all it was an incredible interchange and we really took out the trash! :)

But after the good times always come the tough ones. In my own sector we had a Murphy's law day.

We had worked all morning without having a successful contact or finding anyone who was interested. As we went to lunch our lunch called us saying that they wouldn't be ready until 3:30 which was late but still withing our schedule because we had an appointment at 4:30. Then as we were walking to lunch he called and said he wouldn't be ready until 4 or 4:15 ish. So we just cancelled lunch with him because we couldn't go that late. Then we started walking towards the appointment and we called to make sure that everything was okay because a member was going to go with us. But the appointment canceled. We were pretty hungry and frustrated so we decided to call our other investigator who was going to come back from Santiago and when she answered she said that she wasn't going to get home until Sunday night and wasn't going to come to church. We were so tired and frustrated after that that we decide to go buy completos for lunch. We walked for 25 minutes to get to the nearest completo store and when we got there.... That's right... It was closed! At that point we died and had no desire to keep going with anything. In the end we went and did service with our convert who then gave us completos. It was a long day but we kept persevering and got a couple lessons in.

All in all this week has been a really tough mental and physical week. But we will keep working hard and trucking on.

We just need your prayers because the kid that got baptized still hasn't gotten confirmed. His mom has changed all of a sudden and doesn't want to support him or receive visits from us any more. It was a drastic change and we still don't know why but we need all the prayers that we can get so that he gets confirmed.

But that was basically the week!

Love you all! Stay Golden!

Love,
Elder Nielson :)

Week 101: A mixed week of random thoughts, activities, and funny moments

Buenos Dias a todos!

This week was a interesting week of a lot of everything. So Ill just get started :)

I just wanna start wishing my Grandma Platt a super awesome happy birthday! I love you so much and hope that your birthday is just incredible! :)

Choripletos:
I love completos (hot dogs with tomato and avocado and mayonnaise and ketchup and mustard and hot sauce). I also love Choripanes (Little Chilean bread with sausages in them. So this week we decided to mix the two and make choripletos. We used the little sausages and little breads and added tomato, avocado, mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, and hot sauce. They were super delicious! I ate like 13 and my comp ate like 4. But they were super duper good. I'm thinking one of my greatest inventions ha ha :)

Happy Marriage card:
I forgot to mention this story last week. Last week in interchanges with the assistants we did a ton of contacts and were in the street all day. At the end of the day I was pretty bored and we were walking through a street with a bunch of young couple making out. We walked by a couple that was making out on a bench and we kept walking. I decided to have a little fun so I asked who wanted to help me do a contact. The new assistant said that he was down. I pulled out a contacting card that says "How can I have a happy marriage?" and went up to the couple who was making out. I tapped them on the shoulder and presented myself and gave them the card. We then proceeded to testify about the power of marriage in their lives and the blessings that the Lord would give them. They didn't want anything but it was super hilarious!

He was sick and tired!
Well this week on Wednesday we had finished interchanges and were eating lunch in the apartment. My comp said that he was tired so he ate half of his lunch and then went to sleep. After our hour was up I woke him up and he said that he didn't feel good at all so he called the nurse and she told him to take a rest and to relax. As he slept he started shivering a lot and felt worse and worse and worse. I started getting worried so I took his temperature a couple times and it kept going up and up and up. At 9 he felt really sick and I took his temperature and it was at 104! I couldn't believe it so I took it again and again and every time it came out at 104! He couldn't talk legibly to me and he had 0 energy and was still shivering. Not gonna lie I thought he was going to die. In the end we called presidents wife and she gave us permission to go to a hospital. The bishop was awesome and took us to the clinic and we got there at like 10 at night. Then president showed up with his wife and they stayed with us. While my comp was in doing his tests I was just talking and hanging out with the president's wife and it was super fun ha ha. We talked about a ton of stuff, played Mormon memory, and had a good time. She brought me a doctor pepper to keep me happy and it was awesome. Finally my comp came out. He had a bad fever, bronchitis, and the starting of Pneumonia (probably because the other day we were working in the pouring rain without umbrellas or raincoats). At 3 in the morning we finally got back to the apartment and he went to sleep. For the next 3 days he slept basically non stop while I cleaned the apartment, did informes, watched church videos, lifted weights, called the missionaries, etc. It was nice to rest but in the end I got really bored. But now he is feeling a lot better and everything is good.

Probably the best part of it all was the day after going to the hospital, President's wife brought us a ton of groceries with stuff that normally we are too poor to buy ahhh (Gatorade, Powerade, nutella, peanut butter, manjar, grilled chicken, french fries, cereal, yogurt, vegetables, fruit). She spoiled us so much.

That was basically our week! We still have to get "D" confirmed and we are trying to get our investigator "Y" to go to church this weekend so she can get baptized before I go home! :)

I love you all! Stay golden!

Love,
Elder Nielson :)

Week 100: I got the sniffles

Buenos Dias a Todos!

This week just flew by with lots to do and a lot happening.

This week was kind of tough because last Sunday (a week and a day ago) it was pouring and I got soaked. Well I got pretty doggone sick from it with a deep chest cough, head ache, and stuffy/runny nose. It made working really hard especially climbing the hills which made my lungs hurt. But we kept going and managed to not die.

This week we also had interchanges with the assistants. I was with 2 of them in their own sector and my companion was in our sector with one of them. It was a good day because we laughed and joked, and prayed, and contacted. The assistants almost never have time to work in their sector so they didn't have investigators so we contacted the whole day. In the mission we are supposed to try to get 20 contacts a day. We contacted 45 people. We worked super hard but no one wanted to let us in. In the end we taught one of their investigators really fast. At night we bought some pizza hut and it was really good!

We have a family of investigators and 3 of the 4 have accepted the invitation to be baptized. Today we have a visit and are going to get to know the last member of the family and we are going to invite her to be baptized as well. They are really receptive and loving but have a very very very basic knowledge of the gospel and of God. I believe that they can be ready for their baptism the 14th of August.

This week we are going to work hard and take out the trash and prepare everyone to be baptized! I gotta go out with a bang!

Sorry for the short letter! I love you all! Stay Golden!

Love,

Elder Nielson :)

Week 99: Backstreet's Back Alright!!!

Buenos Dias!

This week was a good crazy week!

On Monday and Tuesday we worked in a trio which was pretty awesome. We went to all the houses of our investigators and were able to enter because there were 3 of us. We taught "D" and got him ready for his baptism and did some searching for new investigators.

On Wednesday we had changes. We got the call that Elder Diaz was leaving and that he had to pack his bags. After a morning of saying goodbye to the converts and members we went to change meeting. Elder Diaz got sent to Achupallas and I was waiting for my new companion when something that I never thought would happen, happened. I got my new companion and he is... Elder Nasilai!! The Tongan that was my companion in Coquimbo. The one that would beat box and I would rap! We are comps again! Everyone in the change meeting was shocked!! It was super awesome.

So we already know each other so we are just starting to take out the trash! We have seen some miracles this week already. We have been trying to get into a house of some ex investigators that seem pretty good. It is a family of 4 and they are married and everything. Since I first got here I have been trying to get in to their house and hadn't had success. In 5 months i had never been able to get in. Well last night it was pouring rain and we decided to pass by. We rung the doorbell and they talked to us through the doorbell microphone thing and asked what the heck we were doing outside while it was raining. We answered doing missionary work and they asked if we wanted to come it. We said yes and just like that they let us in! They gave us cake and hot milk and we got to teach them a little bit. They don't want to commit to so many lessons each week but they accepted another one this Saturday and seem pretty receptive!

We also have been trying to teach another family that has 3 people who are old enough to get baptized and we have never been able to make a solid appointment. Well last night while we were working the spirit told me that we should pass by them (Instead of going to a less actives house where I knew they would invite us in to eat dinner and let us get out of the rain) but fighting my inner desire to get out of the rain we passed by them. When we got close to the house we saw them getting out of their car and we were able to talk to them a little bit. We managed to make a solid visit for this Wednesday and if everything goes well.

A funny moment from the week was when I first took Elder Nasilai to meet "K" and her kids. When we got there the house was in Chaos and it seemed like a tornado had hit. "K" was apologizing and saying that it normally wasn't that bad but that he had to have patience because the kids were crazy. Right when she said that her youngest son comes up walking really funnily and said "Embarrassment doesn't exist in this family" Then walked away. It was so hilarious!

On Sunday "D" GOT BAPTIZED!! It was a super good service and he was super happy. We are going to keep working with his mom to help progressing so that she can get baptized!

But that was basically our week! We are hoping to see some of the fruits of our Labors Soon! If you could pray that everything goes well with the families that we are going to try to teach that would help a lot!

I love you all! Stay Golden!

Love,
Elder Nielson :)

Week 98: Fun is in the small and simple things :)

Buenos Dias a Todos!

This week was a good week! We worked hard, and worked hard, and had success and miracles.

This week we were able to teach "D" the little boy that has a baptismal date for this next Sunday (the 17th). He is doing well. The hard part is that his mom has been finishing her semester of studies so she has been busy studying and hasn't been able to participate in the lessons so she will have to get baptized in a later date. He came to church this last Sunday so everything is good for his baptism this weekend.

This week we also saw a miracle! We went to go teach our recent convert "S" who got baptized like a month and a half ago. When we got there she wasn't home but we decided to talk to her mom about supporting her and helping her to go to church and to go to church activities. We had a good lesson with her and were about to leaver when her (basically husband but they aren't married because she has to get divorced from her first husband but laws here make it super difficult so they are just living together) showed up. We have shared with him a couple times but he sat down so we started sharing with him as well. In the end of a short simple lesson we felt the spirit tell us that we needed to invite them to church. When we invited them he said that he would like to go and committed to go the very next day. And the miracle is that he actually showed up the next day with his "Wife" and he liked church a lot. They are progressing very slowly, but I believe that they will get baptized eventually. It was fantastic that they went and he shared his testimony about the teachings of Jesus Christ being a light of hope in his life.

This week we remembered that fun is in the small and simple things. We had had a long day of work and walking in the street. As we were walking down the steep street to get to the house a collectivo (A taxi that runs a specific route so it is cheaper) passed by. After it went by I thought "Wow if I was in a collectivo I would get home a lot faster..." And I don't know why, but I decided to be a collectivo. I pretended like I was sitting down with my hands on the steering wheel and I started running down the hill. After I had taken a few steps  running my companion called out to me and told me to stop so I stopped. I thought he was telling me to stop because I was acting childish but instead he ran up behind me, acted like he was opening up the back door of the collectivo, and got in a sitting position behind me. Then we both ran down the hill as if I was driving a collectivo and as if he was sitting down in the back. We got to the house laughing our heads off. It was something so small and simple and stupid, but it made our day. Ever since that we have tried to make the most out of the small and simple moments.

Today one of our district leaders finished his mission and is going home so his companion is going to be with us until Wednesday so we are going to party hard! Night pizza parties and crazy moments. It is going to be a blast :)

Well this week I start my last 6 weeks of the mission. It still doesnt feel real which is super good. I get my trunky papers on Wednesday.

I love you all so much! Stay golden!

Love,
Elder Nielson :)

Week 97: Cuz Im Proud to be an American!!

Happy 4th of July!!!!!! AMERICA!!!!!

Well we are in something called... The Busqueda! (The search) which is the hardest longest part about the mission. It is when all of your investigators get baptized and you have literally no one to teach so you spend all day talking to people who yell at you until you find one who says you can come back another day and then repeat all day every day of the week. Lets just say my legs are super tired ha ha.

It was an interesting week because my stomach felt a little iffy so I didn't eat much which made me have a low energy level which just took away all enthusiasm I had to do the work. But the great thing is the week is over and we can start again! :)

We have " D"and his mom still but they haven't had much time to come to have lessons and they didn't come to church because it was raining (In Chile if it is raining it is the end of the world). So we will have to wait a little bit longer to help them get ready for their baptism.

That was basically the week. Nothing really happened but this next week will be a bunch better :)

The thing that saved me was reading Alma 7 in my studies today. He told me to pick up my game and get to work.

23 And now I would that ye should be humble, and be submissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive.

 24 And see that ye have faith, hope, and charity, and then ye will always abound in good works.

I realized that this week I had very few of the attributes that he said that we needed to have so I decided to pick up my game this week.

I know that the scriptures give us guidance and help when we need it. I know that if we humble ourselves and actually live the guidance that God gives us that he will complete with his promises and will change our lives and our heart. Keep reading the scriptures, keep living what you learn, and keep receiving the blessings and change of heart.

I love you all! Stay Golden!

Love,

Elder Nielson :)

Week 96: Whistle while you work

Buenos Dias a Todos!

This was an interesting week! We had a lot of busy work to do so we didn't have much time to work but we did what we could. But at least I had my weights and could start lifting a little bit.

This week we had conferences with President. I really liked it because his wife gave a really good presentation which is exactly what I needed. My whole mission I have been really really really hard on myself. I can not explain how hard on myself I have been. By being hard on myself I give it all and I work hard and see many miracles, but it also is difficult for me if I do everything right and things don't go right. She talked about 10 steps to have higher resilience. Basically I decided that I was doing exactly what she said but I was being sad during the process. It really affected me and has helped to to Trust more in the lord and to do my part. To put it in practice this week I contacted as much as I could and talked to everyone and if somebody was mean I didn't care and just kept on contacting. It made me a lot happier and made me trust in God a lot more.

This week We had to clean out a pension and turn it in. Nothing too new but it was fun because I got to spend a lot of time with a senior missionary and he is hilarious! He is such a bro it was a blast talking to him and working with him. I talked to him and I would love to finish my mission being assistant to him to help him shut down the apartments and take care of the pensions and to do stuff like that. I don't think it will happen but It would be pretty sick :)

This week we only taught 1 lesson to an investigator and he didnt come to church on Sunday so his baptismal date fell through. It was a tough Sunday because none of our converts came to church so I felt like all my work had been wasted. But we will keep working with them this week. It is just so hard because almost every missionary sees at least half of his converts go inactive before he goes to his house. It is really sad to pass for it but retention is just horrible in Chile, not completely because of the wards but the culture is very against compromise and if you don't like something you just don't do it, even if it is required. It makes it super difficult, but we do what we can.

That was basically my week, Ill just send pictures, they explain more ha ha :)

I love you all!

Stay Golden!

Elder Nielson :)

Week 95: My Protein diet and muscles scared away the bad guy!

Buenos Dias a Todos!

This week was an interesting week for sure! Definitely had some first experiences in the mission and had a lot of stereotypical experiences as well.

This week we were working a lot with the nephew of our recent convert "K" and with the sister of "K". The little boy wants to be baptized but needs more support from his mom. His mom has been listening as well and has been understanding but her testimony of the gospel is super duper itty bitty. She has to make changes in her life and I think the idea of those changes scares her. He was going to be baptized on the 26th of June but his mom didn't take him to church like she said she was going to so we are going to have to verify if she is really willing to support him with actions or just with words.

The Family Home Evening last week went really well and was super fun. This week we had to cancel it because some elders had to go to visa and legal work so that they can stay in Chile. But tomorrow we will be getting the shirts and we will have them for the next FHE.

Well my exercises with my protein powder is going well... except for the fact that I don't have weights. A recent convert was going to give me his weights this week but we had scheduling issues and he didn't have time to have a lesson this week so I will have to wait until this Thursday. But I have been rocking the push up game (I hit 75 without stopping) so that has been pretty good but I am super stoked for the weights to get swole again :)

This week we had a crazy experience. Two nights ago at 4 in the morning I woke up to my companion yelling out the window! I thought he was sleep walking and dreaming (Because he has talked in his sleep before) but it turns out I was wrong. He had woken up and heard someone walking along the side of the house. While he listened the light that we have on the side of the house (that is a motion sensitive light) turned on and he looked out the window. A guy had been creeping along the side of the house with a bottle and when the light turned on it scared him and he ran away. The direction that he was going looked like he was going towards our balcony to break into the house through the window that doesn't have a metal fence over it. While the guy ran away my companion yelled out the window at him to let him know that we had seen him and that we knew he was trying to break it. Luckily nothing happened but it has been kind of nerve wracking sleeping at night. After that we slept with the lights on and the next day put everything important in the bedroom and locked the bedroom.

But all in all we are good! This next week will be a good one and we are going to work super hard to find new investigators to teach and to help.

I love you all!
Stay Golden!

Love,
Elder Nielson

Week 94: Wherefore, if ye believe me, ye will labor while it is called today.

Buenos Dias a Todos!

This week was definitely a week of ups and downs, but as always it was a good week.

It was really tough because we had no investigators at all. All of our investigators have been baptized, changed houses, or stopped progressing. So we spent this week looking. It was tough talking with so many people every day. It was tough having so many people treat us badly, it was tough having so few people tell us yes, and when we showed up to their house find out that they don't live there or that the house doesn't exist. I cant lie, it was a very tough week. On Sunday morning I was so tired and cranky and just bummed that even after to talking to everyone for a week that we didn't have anything happening that I was in a bad mood. We showed up to church and it was so hard to get myself to talk to people and to smile at them. All I could think was

1) I'm so tired, I just want to go home and sleep and rest for a couple days
2) I'm sick of talking to people because they either treat me bad or say yes and lie straight to my face
3) I'm failing because I am not having success, I should be able to achieve at least something in a week.

It was really tough. All of priesthood I was just sitting their a little bit dead thinking that over and over and over. Then we went to Gospel Principles with the investigators and recent converts and we started learning about repentance and Forgiveness. While the teacher was talking I went to look for a scripture so that I was ready to read when we got there. While I was waiting for her to tell us to look for the scripture I started reading some other verses in the same section of Doctrine and Covenants when I ran into 3 verses that touched my heart and almost made me cry. God answered my 3 Doubts with 3 verses.

D & C 64

25 Wherefore, if ye believe me, ye will labor while it is called today.
32 But all things must come to pass in their time.
33 Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great.

Those scriptures saved my day and maybe even my week. After that I could walk with a smile and find the energy to do the little things that I need to do every day. It was really a testimony that the scriptures are true, that God can answer us when we read them, and that God blesses us if we go to church. In the End the teacher never asked us to read the scripture in DyC 64, but it changed my week having the scripture on the board.

This week we also had a Miracle. Even though we didn't have any investigators an ex investigator that we had came to church and his mom came as well. The mom hasn't accepted to be baptized but wants her son to be baptized this 26th. It was fantastic and now we just have to teach him and prepare him to be baptized! His mom said that she is going to keep going to church :) Miracles do happen :)

Today in the morning we started something new in the zone to be happier and more united. We had a Family home evening but during the day as a zone. We sang, had a lesson, played a game and ate dessert. It was an hour long and it was a blast! We are making shirts as a zone and are going to use them every Week in the zone family home evening. It is going to be awesome :)

The funny experience of this week was during interchanges. While we were out walking and contacting a funny looking car with a weird camera thing on top came around the corner. When I look at it closer I can see on the side that it says "Tom Tom." Then I realized that on top was a 3 sided camera to take pictures of the street. That's when it hit me! It is like a google street view car but for Tom Tom. It pulled a U turn and started driving away. My comp for the day was from Brazil and didn't know what a tom tom was but I told him to follow me so we ran following the Tom Tom Car showing the Book of Mormon and our ties! So hopefully we are on the street view of Tom Tom ;) You never know ;)

But that was our week! It was a tough but good one!

I love you all! Stay Golden!

Love,
Elder Nielson :)

Week 93: Changes without Changes!

Buenos Dias a Todos!

This week was a really busy week! We had to do a bunch of busy work and didn't have much time to work in the streets or teach people, but it was still a pretty good week!

This week we had to close an apartment because a pair of missionaries was getting taken out of the zone. Now instead of 14 missionaries we are 12. So while they were packing their suitcases we had to go start cleaning the apartment to be able to turn it in to the owner. It was really dirty and we spent 4 hours cleaning the kitchen and the bathroom. It stunk (pun intended). But it was worth it because the elders couldn't take their food with them on changes so they gave it all to us! It was great because they had a ton of food and we had nothing so it was like heaven! I don't think I have had so much food in the house since I became a zone leader (because we don't have as much money for food because we have to travel a lot and buy stuff for the zone) so it made us super happy.

This week we had changes!! And nothing changed! I am here in Valparaíso Oeste with Elder "D" still! He is the first companion that I will have had for more than 2 changes. And come to find out that I am his first companion that he has had for more than 2 changes. So he is going to be with me almost until the end! But I think it will be a good change.

Miracles and confusion with the guy who works in the hotel! This week we were working in the street at night close to where he lives and we ran into him! I started talking to him and asked him how he was doing. He told me that he wasn't doing well because his aunt died recently and was sad. We talked to him a little bit about the plan of Salvation and made an appointment for Saturday. When we asked him if there was anything we could do for him he said "Show up for the appointment on Saturday, It will be good to talk". We said goodbye and we were super excited. On Saturday when we were going to his house he was walking in the street with his wife and we stopped to say Hi to him and ask if we should pass by later but he acted like he didn't even know us.. We didn't know if he didn't recognize us because he had already passed a little bit or what but we decided to pass by on Sunday. On Sunday we went to his house and knocked and he talked to us through his doorbell speaker and said that Sebastian didn't live there and wasn't interested. Basically I don't understand if he wants us to pass by and we passed by the wrong house or if he just says yes so that we go away. But we will see what happens.

After having all of our baptisms we are now on the search for new investigators because we have diddly squat. Yesterday we spent all day passing by people we had talked with in the street and talking to more people in the street. I think everyone was having a bad day because everyone yelled at us, slammed their doors in our faces, said mean stuff as they were walking by, or were just plain rude. After spending the whole day contacting we didn't even get 1 name or direction of someone who lives in our sector. It was tough, not going to lie, but we are going to keep looking. You cant find someone who will say yes unless you find some who say no! :)

I just want to thank you mom and dad for being such great examples. As a missionary we see a little bit of everything, loving families, not so loving families, healthy people, drug addicts, drug dealers, people with AIDS, people who have been abused physically or sexually, people who abuse, prostitutes, and everything. But the thing that has really marked me hasn't been all the bad stuff that I have seen in the street but instead the things I see in the houses of the members. I always thought that our family was a normal family, that everyone did their family home evening every week, that every family read their scriptures together, that every family lived the Sabbath day, that every family did their prayers together, that every family, went to church each Sunday. But here in the mission I have learned how few families actually do all of that. Very few families read the scriptures together daily, very few go to church each Sunday and do their visits, very few have a family home evening every week. So I want to thank you for your example and teaching me that living the gospel is something normal. Thank you for helping me realize the importance of doing the small things to have the big changes. Thank you for teaching me how to work, how to lead, how to ask, how to fight for what is right, and that there aren't exceptions to living the gospel or breaking commandments. Thank you for treating me with love and respect, with patience and kindness, with diligence and strictness. I really am so grateful.

That was basically my week! I am a little bit sick with a cold but everything is alright here :)

I love you all! Stay golden!

Love,

Elder Nielson :)

Week 92: Interviews and Baptisms!!

Buenos Dias a Todos!

This week was a good week full of baptismal interviews and baptisms!

This week our investigator "S" (the younger sister of "K" who got baptized earlier this month) got baptized! It was such a great experience! All of the young women were there to support her and she was so happy. Her mom was there to see her baptism and is now going to investigate the church with more intentions to know if it is true or not. It was a great baptismal service and everything went smoothly (How strange). It was also great because there were lots of baptisms in the zone this weekend. This last weekend we had 5 baptisms in the zone and finished the month with 9 baptisms! It is only the second time in years that Valparaiso Oeste has achieved 9 baptisms!

This week was basically full of preparing "S" for her baptism and doing baptismal interviews for the other investigators. Because of that we didn't have much time to go find other investigators which will be interesting for this week because we have very few investigators now. So this next week will be a good week to look for more to prepare people to be baptized in June.

This week we didn't have many lunches with members so we had to cook a couple times and I must say that I am getting pretty good at cooking spaghetti and rice. But I might have to start trying to cook other stuff :)

This week we have changes and on Friday if I am still a zone leader I will Have leadership Counsel with President Diaz. We will see what happens. I feel like I am going to stay her in Valparaíso Oeste as a zone leader until the end of the mission, but we will see what happens.

This week in my studies I have been reading in 1 Nephi in the chapters of Isaiah. I have been really impressed how Nephi and Isaiah put there confidence in the Lord when they were tired, passing through trials, and trying to help others. It has been a grand example for me because I am so tired, not because I haven't slept well, or because I have climbed lots of hills. I am super tired physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Having to give your all every day all day without a break is really tiring especially because following the spirit requires so much attention to details and whispers, I am exhausted. But I know that I can put my confidence in the Lord and his atonement. Every time I am tired and don't want to climb another hill, contact another person, teach another lesson, correct another elder, give another advice, or fill out another form, I remember Nephi and Isaiah, and how they always remembered their savior and when he was laying face down in the dirt in agony in the garden of Gethsemane. When I remember that I know I can trust that the Lord knows what he is doing when he tells me to just do 1 more. I am going to keep giving it my all and keep going strong until the end, but if you guys could pray that i may be strengthened (like Nephi when he was tied) so that I can continue strong in the work would be great.

That was basically my week! I love you all! Stay Golden!

Love,
Elder Nielson :)

Week 91: Come what may and love it!

Buenos dias a todos!

This was a good week with work and sleep and work and sleep and a little bit of eating :)

Our investigators:
"K" the mom who got baptized last week got confirmed this week and she cried. It was super awesome and the ward is getting to know her a little bit better. I hope that she can keep progressing and prepare to go to the temple.

"S"- Her baptismal date fell through because she didn't go to church. She went to her aunts house and stayed for a day longer than she had planned on so she didn't go to church. That was sad but it was cool to see how people noticed that she wasn't there. The coolest part was that a young woman who is the same age a "S" came up to us and told us that she had a gift for "S" and asked if we could take it to her. When we said yes she took out a brand new triple with a dedication written to "S". It was so cool to see this young woman who was 15 years old take the initiative to help our investigator feel loved.

We found a new investigator this Tuesday named "R". We taught him almost every day this week and he is super awesome. He is super humble, he cant read or write, but loves to hear about the teachings of Christ to be able to follow them. He has depression but always cheers up with the things we teach him. He came to church on Sunday and the ward treated him really well. I think that is what made me so happy this week is that the ward has progressed so much in the way they treat our investigators. It was great and is is going to come again next week. He wants to get baptized but is living with his girlfriend and would have to get married first. But I believe that we can make it happen :)

This week we had interviews with president. It was pretty interesting. Our president seemed tired and a little bit discouraged. He talked about the need to study, to have faith, and have patience if the things don't turn out the way we planned. The interview itself was pretty short and normal but it was great to be able to tell president not to worry about our zone because things are going  well here :) It was also super fun because while my comp was in interviews I got to talk and spend some time with the assistants who are my good friends. It was a blast and it was great to be with them.

This week I decided that I have to be happier. All my happiness was based on the progress and change of the investigators that made my mood very roller coaster like. I would be happy and sad, excited and bummed, stoked and lazy. I read a talk that talked about the need to be happy and put more hope and faith in the Lord. If we do that it wont matter what happens in the moment, but what happens in the end. That helped me be a lot happier. After church this week, even though lots of sad things happened that weren't planned, I felt so happy and calm that I knew that in  the end everything would be okay.

WARNING!!!! IMMATURE CONTENT!!! DO NOT READ IF YOU BELIEVE THAT ELDER NIELSON IS AN ADULT!!!

This week we ate something that gave us a ton of gas. But my comp had the gas earlier than I did. He was suffering from bad gas during the day and I made fun of him. Then at night I started suffering from it. While we were planning he was tired and a little bored so he started poking me and messing with me. I told him to knock it off. He asked what I would do if he didn't. I told him that I would hit him. So he poked me again. I told him to knock it off. He then asked again what I would do if he didn't knock it off. I told him I would do something to make him suffer. He didn't believe me so he poked me again. I then let out one of the stinkiest gases of my life!! His eyes started watering and he started coughing. He ran around the apartment opening up every window and door that was possible. Needless to say, he stopped poking me :)

That was basically my week! This week we will keep working, laughing, being happy, and testifying of Jesus Christ.

I love you all! Stay Golden!

Love,
Elder Nielson

Week 90: Baptism!!!!!

Buenos Dias a Todos!

This was a great week full of excitement, adrenaline, bad singing, and baptisms!!

On Sunday we had a BAPTISM! We baptized "K" who is the mom of the little boys that got baptized last month. She has made so many changes in her life and she was so happy! It was a great baptism because her kids, her mom, and her sister (our investigator who is 14 that hasn't gone to church before) went to all of church to be there for her baptism. John, a recent convert who got baptized in February (right before I got to this sector) baptized her and that was also a great experience.

Our investigator "S", the little sister of the lady who got baptized, loved church and young women's. This week we went to her house with one of the counselors of the young women's who is 24 and single who is still really perky and she helped "S" get excited to go to mutual and to church. On Friday "S" went to mutual and loved it and on Sunday went to church on Sunday and loved it as well! She loved the baptism and is super excited to get baptized and to go to church now.

"E" our investigator that hopefully will get baptized this weekend has his interview this week and we will see if he can get baptized this weekend! It will be a series of 3 weeks of baptizing! :)

This week in church it was reaffirmed that I am a horrible singer. Every time we were singing a hymn I would look and my companion and he would be snickering. Wondering what was funny I would look around and see at least 5 people looking at me while I was singing! When I made eye contact with all of them they would look down and keep singing. This happened more than 10 times (because we sang 4 hymns in sacrament meeting). So it is official, even in Spanish I am a bad singer. Another moment was when we were in a taxi going to the center when a song came on in English. (I'm on the hunt I'm after you, and I'm hungry like the wolf) I started singing along quietly to the song. The moment I started singing the lady next to me stopped the taxi and got out saying "Actually this is where I want to get off". I don't know if it is coincidence or if it was my singing, but based on what happened at church I think it is my singing.

This week was a week of close calls. Again while we were walking on a different street at night somebody threw rocks at us or shot a BB Gun at us. We aren't sure but we were walking and there was a tin fence next to us when in the distance we hear some people talking and laughing when all of a sudden we hear the sound of rocks or metal hitting the tin fence right next to us. We ran booking it for a good 7 minutes until we got to the house.

We also had a scary experience when someone was trying to jump us. Without details a lady was trying to make us walk slow and stop to talk while 2 cars were following us. When we didn't fall in the trap and started running she said "Be careful/Watch out, someone is coming!" It was super scary but nothing happened because a bus came just in time and we got on the bus and nobody saw us get on the bus. Anyways we now have to enter the apartment an hour early every night to be careful.

This week the little girl that got baptized last month said one of the funniest prayers that I think I have heard. She had a sore throat and her mom didn't want her to say the prayer but she begged and begged so she said it. She said something along the lines of
"God, please bless my throat so that it gets better................... Actually I take that back, I dont want to go to school tomorrow so don't make me get better until Saturday or Sunday so that I can go to church."  It was so funny that everyone was trying not to laugh during the prayer. When the prayer ended we all died laughing!

This week we had interchanges and I was with an Elder that is from Brazil. In the nighttime we were cleaning the apartment because we have interviews with president this week. While we were cleaning we found a box of clothes and starting going through it and you will never guess what I found! I found a pair of skinny jeans that fit me perfectly! After trying them on we finished cleaning and I decide that I am all set to have an activity in street clothes so that I can use my skinny jeans :)

All in all that was my week!

I love you all! Stay Golden!

Love,

Elder Nielson :)

Week 89: Thats not fair! They've got rocks! All we've got are stinking machine guns! (Duddly Do Right)

Hola Buenos Dias a Todos!

This week was a good week! We worked and taught and ran down hills in the pitch black to avoid bad guys with rocks and talked to our families on Sunday! What a great week!

Our investigators are pretty good! "K" has plans to get baptized this Sunday! We have to verify how her commitments to live the commandments are going and if all is well she will get baptized this Sunday!! :) "E" has all the lessons so we are going to keep preparing him to stay active and he has plans to be baptized on the 22 of May! :) If you could pray that  "S"goes to church. She is 14 and is nervous to go to church because kids in school are already making fun of her for listening to the Mormon missionaries, but I know if she meets the young women that she will be happy and have good friends.

This week we had an instance when we were guided by the holy ghost and protected just like Samuel the Lamanite.

We were walking in a street at night that was dark. As we continued walking we heard someone yell "Hey, there they are!" I got kind of worried but imagined that they were talking about someone else. All of a sudden we hear a couple of people following us and yelling at us. I imagined that they were probably drunk so we just kept walking and didn't listen to what they were saying. All of a sudden the people behind us started running and I heard rocks whizzing by my head and hitting the street near us. We started walking really fast and turned a corner and started running like crazy. We ran down a muddy dirt trail down a hill in the pitch black. I don't know how we didn't die running or falling in a creek or anything, but we made it to the bottom and the people didn't follow us and stopped throwing rocks at us! I know that we were protected and that nothing can happen to us while we are obedient and work hard in the work of the lord.

Talking to my family this week was awesome! It was great to see them and hear their voices. It was crazy to listen to my sister talk because she sounds so much older! I have only been gone a year and 9 months and she already sounds more grown up ha ha :)

That was my week!

I love you all!

Stay Golden! :)

Love,

Elder Nielson :)

Week 88: The Falling Week!

Buenos Dias a Todos!

This week was a good week! It was really standard of working, teaching, testifying, walking, talking, and FALLING! Ever since falling in poop last week I haven't been able to keep my feet firm! I have fallen every day, so I think I am a walking safety hazard.

This week we have been preparing our investigators "E", "K", "S", and "D" so that they can be baptized this week. We taught them a lot this week and saw lots of progress but also learned of all the obstacles that we are going to have to overcome. "K" is the only one who came to church because "E" didn't wake up, "S" was in another city, and "D" wasn't home either. It was kind of a bummer after teaching so much that they didn't go to church, but we have this next week to prepare it :) They all have such different needs but this last week we were trying to teach them all in the same house and it worked but wasn't as effective as it could have been. This week we have plans to teach them all separately so we should be teaching more, more powerfully, and with more focus on their personal needs :)

This week as we were leaving the house of "S" they told me to be careful with the stairs because it was dark. As a joke (Because my companion knew that it wasn't true) I said "Don't worry, I never fall." After leaving the house we started going down the stairs and what happened? That's right, I fell. I fell backwards and while I was trying to catch my balance I stepped wrong and fell forward onto my face. A little bit embarrassed I laughed knowing that it was okay because the family hadn't seen me fall. I turned around to look for my companion to help me up but he wasn't there. Confused for a second I heard a knock on the door, the door open, and my companion laughing and talking to the family. My companion instead of helping me up decided to run, knock on the door, and laughingly tell the family that the missionary that "Never falls" fell down on his face. The whole family came out laughing but worried at the same time and every single member of the family helped me down the stairs. ¡Que Verguenza!

I would really love to send an awesome letter, but that's about it for this week. It was really pretty typical.

But next week will be pretty normal too because you will hear about everything this next Sunday! :)

I love you all,
Stay Golden!

Love,
Elder Nielson :)

Week 87: A "Crappy" week

Hola Buenos Dias a Todos!

This week was a good but "Crappy" week with working, teaching, and going on with the mission work.

Well we had changes this last week and I wasn't changed and neither was my companion. Elder D and  I are going to keep working together as zone leaders here in Valparaíso Oeste Edwards "A" We had a couple of changes in the zone, but for the most part everything stayed the same.

This week we are working to be able to help people be baptized in May. In order to achieve that in the zone we had a week of challenges called "April Showers bring May Flowers" in which we gave challenges of things to do in the week of April to achieve baptisms in May. It was pretty cool and we saw a big increase in work ethic.

This week we have been working with a good number of investigators. "K", the mom of the kids who were baptized, is getting ready to be baptized on the 15th of May. She has to stop smoking and then she will be ready to be baptized. We have been working a little bit with her other little sister
'S" who is 14 and this week we will be working with her and young women. We have also been working with "E" and his younger brother "A". They are pretty good and we are sure that with the help of the ward that they will be able to progress and be baptized. We are also working with a couple that isn't married but have a little girl. They went to church last week but this last Sunday they didn't go. We will keep working with them. We are sure that "G and S" will get married and will get baptized :)

This week we also had Mission Leadership Counsel. It was really good. We got to see our other zone leader friends and have a great meeting with president. He talked a lot about Unity and the scriptures. Our mission president loves the scriptures and always teaches us about the details that many people miss that make the scriptures more interesting. Like when we were reading Acts he showed us that Pablo was only 1.5 metros (4 and a half feet tall) and there was a sister who was there who was that small. It was incredible to see how small he was and then read what he taught with so much power. It was a great meeting and on Tuesday we will be presenting it to the zone :)

This week was kind of a "crappy" week ;) Why do I say that? Well while we were walking home from a lesson with "K" we were walking on a dirt path that isn't lit up. Normally it is a little bit difficult to follow the trail, but it had just rained and was muddy so it was really hard to walk.As we were walking I saw a sand bag that was placed so that the rain would follow a certain path. Knowing that I imagined a little stream next to the sand bag so I decided to step on the sand bag instead of stepping by it. The second I stepped on the wet sandbag I slipped and fell and squealed like a little girl. Laying on the ground I was pretty embarrassed when all of a sudden the strong smell of dog crap comes floating towards my nose.... When I got up I saw and smelled the bad news... In the dark I had stepped on dog poop and when I stepped on the sand bag it made me slip... and got ALL OVER MY PANTS...AND MY ARM...AND MY HAND!!!! It was so gross! We had to walk home for 15 minutes and I was covered in crap! When we got home I had to take my pants off outside and my comp brought me water and soap, but wouldn't let me in the house until I washed my arm and hand off! It was super gross... but now it is kind of funny. But that was my crappy week:)

On Mothers day we are going to go to a members house at 4 in the afternoon Chilean time. My comp is planning on calling first so I would be calling at about 5 Chilean time. But if you guys could be ready for anything between 4 and 5 Chilean time that would be awesome. Remember to have questions, stories, and comments ready so that we can take advantage of the time :)

Well that was my week! I love you all! Stay Golden!

Love,
Elder Nielson :)

Week 86: A pure heart, clean hands, and CLEAN CLOTHES :)

Buenos Dias a Todos!

This week was a looong rainy week full of miracles, clean clothes, and lots of work.

This week starting on Wednesday it started raining like crazy! With all the hills our sector was full of urban waterfalls and water slides. It was very interesting because the higher parts of the hills are poorer and don't have cement streets so all the water coming down the streets is brown and maroon for the dirt and clay. The streets are full of mud, in some places up to a foot of mud. It has been interesting to work because there aren't many people in the street to contact and there aren't many people who open their doors because they are all sleeping ha ha. But this week was a week of miracles.

On Tuesday in the nighttime we were walking and it was time to go to the apartment but I saw a man walking in the street and he looked really mean and cranky so I thought
"Im going to contact him. But I have to start the contact from here (20 feet away) so that he cant just walk by"

So I yelled out "Hey friend! Hows it going?"
He looked up and started walking towards us a little bit so I started walking towards him. I shook his hand and straight up bore my testimony about the power of the gospel to help families be strong and overcome the trials of the world.

Instead of being cranky he was really friendly and receptive. He only works in the night and said that we could pass by every day to teach him. He said he works as a night desk guard in a condominium so he has all night to read. We gave him a Book of Mormon, got his information and left super excited.

Anyways, the next day we went to look for his house and couldn't find it. Saddened we continued on with the day. In the night time we were close by where his house was because we were looking for someone else who lived close by when all of a sudden he comes walking down the street. We talked to him and got his phone number to call him. He walked with us and we found out something special.

We were walking and he said the words

"I'm Married, I lived with someone for 10 years but last year we got married." When he said this the sun came out and the clouds parted and the angels started singing Hallelujah! Well actually he just said he was married... The sun and angels weren't there... but it felt that way.

Pure miracles with him. But we need another miracle because his phone has been off and we still can't find his house. The moment we find his house we will have two more people to be baptized and to contribute to the church of Jesus Christ. Please pray that we can find him! :)

This Sunday we had the confirmation of the 3 kids. It was super awesome and made me feel good. It was a great day of church because even though it was pouring 2 of our investigators , "G" and "S" came to church! They are awesome and super friendly. They don't have a baptismal date because they have to get married so this week we are going to teach with power and authority and teach them that they need to get married and invite them to do it so that they can be baptized. But they came to church while it was raining which shows real compromise. Because in Chile if it rains almost everything shuts down. Chileans are scared of getting a cold because if they get a cold they don't go to work  (basically like a man cold except a Chilean cold) so they don't do anything if it is raining. That is why it was awesome that they came to church! I am pretty sure that we can get them baptized in May or June :)

This week was also a great week because we had clean clothes!!!!! We don't have anyone who washes our clothes (The system set up in our mission) because we don't have anything to wash the clothes with. Anyways for 2 weeks we didn't have anyone to wash our clothes and we washed our clothes in the shower. But this week we found a sister who is willing to wash our clothes. It made life so much happier ha ha :)

That was about my week! This week we have changes. I don't think I will be changed and I don't think that my companion will be changed either. We will see what happens!

I love you all! Stay Golden!

Love,

Elder Nielson :)

Week 85: Super Baptism

Buenos Dias a todos!!

This week was a really long stressful week but now that it is over it was actually a fantastic week! It was full of trials, stress, hard work, no work, and the spirit :)

This week we started strong and well! We worked hard preparing our investigators to be baptized and to be interviewed. On Thursday we had the interview and all of the kids passed the interviews! The interviews were really fun because while our district leader interviewed one of the kids, his companion, my comp and I, and the other kids played pass the pigs! One of the elders received pass the pigs in a package so we played while we were waiting for the interviews and it was so much fun ha ha :)

That same day was an interesting day because we didn't get to work at all. We had planning in the morning, then ate lunch. During lunch the sister leaders called us to tell us that they had finished splits with the sisters from our zone and thought that something was up and that we should have interviews with them. So after lunch we went and had interviews with the sisters.

I interviewed one sister and my companion interviewed the other. I interviewed the senior companion who is new. She has only been in the mission for 5 months. It came out that she had a strong testimony, but was really stressed, tired, felt alone, didn't know what to do, and was not happy or enjoying the mission. I felt so bad for her because everything she described was how I felt or the situation that I suffered in the beginning of the mission. In the end we helped her understand what she should do to work hard and to be happy. It was a great interview and the spirit was very strong. I really did feel guided in what to say and what to do. Before the interview I had a feeling what she was going to say so I took my journal to the interview and read her a few of my entries sharing the same feelings that she had felt and then explained what I did to get out of those feelings. It was a great moment.

After those interviews our investigators had their interviews and after that we had to run and take some strong medicine to the other sisters in the zone who were really sick. Being a zone leader is fun, but at the same time sometimes it is frustrating not having time to work in the street ha ha.

On Friday instead of having splits with some members of the zone we had splits with the assistants of the mission president. They were good, they are my friends so I really enjoyed it. I was with Elder Gutierrez from Chile who was my companion in my first day in the mission when we had to give a Book of Mormon to someone in the street and find the mission home. We taught and worked hard and contacted. It was a pretty normal day but the night and morning were fun because we were all together joking and laughing and doing exercises.

This week we had our Super Baptism and it was soooooo hard!!!

The night before we had a lesson with the kids and the mom and everything was good to go to church. On Sunday we had to look for a different investigator who wanted to walk to church with us. We got to church and had to go straight to class. After class we went to look for the kids and their mom and they weren't in the church. If they didn't go to church they wouldn't have the required attendances to be baptized. We found a member who has a car and flew with him to the house of the kids. We found out that the alarm hadn't worked and that they had woken up late and were getting ready but wouldn't have made it to church if we hadn't gone in the car to look for them. But in the end they made it to sacrament meeting and we got ready for the baptism. I can't explain how many problems and things didn't want to work to get the baptism ready. But in the end we got it ready and everything worked out.

After the baptism we went to the house to eat but we were so exhausted that instead of eating we took our hour lunch to sleep. It was just what we needed. After so much stress and thinking and work it was fantastic to not have anything on our mind and to sleep.

It was a great baptism because our 3 investigators got baptized and I had the opportunity to baptize the youngest who is JM. He has problems walking which is why I am holding him in the picture, but he is so awesome. The little girl is super awesome as well. One week when her older sister couldn't go to church she decided to go to church alone (She went to the closest church which was an evangelical church but it is the thought that counts right? ;) )

But it was a good week! We are going to keep working!

I love you all! Stay Golden!

Love,
Elder Nielson :)